Argos Late payments preventing further credit

Leeds1984

Hi

Apologies for the long thread but I am new to this and am at my witts end!!

I took out a store card with Argos in 2007 (Home Retail Group) following the renovation of my house. The card was for £2100 and was used for furnishings. I took advantage of the buy now pay later. By my own admission I lost track of what was spent and when the buy now pay later was applied, my account went a mere £200 over it's limit.

On the day this happened Argos called me to advise and requested full payment of the £200 to clear the arrears. At the time I was unable to pay this amount. After being placed on hold whilst the caller spoke to a manager, I was advised that as a gesture of good will, they would increas my account limit to £2300 in order to show my account as a) within it's limit and b) to avoid any adverse credit.

They requested I paid a set amount each month (higher than the minimum payment) which would reflect o their systems as above the minimum payments. I remind you that they explicitly advised me that the purpose of this ''good will gesture'' was to avoid any adverse credit ratings and to make sure I maintained customer satisfaction.

In August 2009 I carried out a routine check on my credit profile (which I do every 3 - 6 months as I am a paying member of experian) and noticed that Argos had placed 6 consecutive late payment markes on my credit report. This ahd lowered my score to just 350/1000.

I contacted experian requesting a notice of correction and was advised they had contacted Argos on my behalf requesting amendment. Argos however, denied any contact from Experian and advised me that the arrears were recorded a slate as each month passed ''as I failed to make payment'. Again, I remind you that I acted on the advice of Argos and had been misinformed of the state of my account. I advised them that If I had been told that this would have an adverse affect I would have cleared the arrears on the day they occurred (regardles sof being unable to afford I would have found the funds which I regret for not doing).

When requesting them to remove this myself I was fobbed off by one person after another. One of whom requested I sent a detailed letter with a copy of my credit report to which they deny ever receiving - obviously no response was received. After being worn down by the advisors day after day on the phone I managed to get one of them to say ''you were misinformed''. If I hadn't have felt so bullied/upset and tired I would have ensured to take their details.

Several months have now passed and I have now sent another request to Argos for removal of these marks based on the fact that they failed to provide my with the correct information to enable me to act on the state of my account, whilst maintaining responsability for the arrears being applied. If they had not lied, it would have been paid and no adverse data recorded. They have acknowledge my e mail and are investigating. The arrears were cleared last year in 2009. My account with Argos is within limit and all payments continue to be met.

As I say, this has reduced my creidt score significantly and as a homeowner I am unable to get a copetative remortgage or a debt consolodation loan. Even with bad credit companies such as Ocean Finance have turned me down depspite having equity.

How likley is it that I can get the late payment marks removed? I have also stated in my e mail to Argos that I will approach the Financial Ombudsman if they fail to act on my request. Also, what does Argos actually have to do to remove adverse data that should not be there?

Many thanks and a happy new year!!

:cool:

Tixy

Hi

They should have to remove them if you were mis-informed. But it may be difficult to prove this was the case and get them to admit it in writing (I would only communicate in writing not phone calls).

In some similar situations some people have had succes by finding out the Chief exec's email address and writing to them to complain (you can often find this on on the company website) may be worth a try with Argos.

As an aside - have you checked if they have also reported to equifax? you can get a copy of your report for £2. If they haven't and you need to apply for credit you could look for a company which usually only searches equifax.

(One last thing - are you sure a debt consolidation loan is a good idea? we don't usually recommend them on here as people then don't address the route cause of the debt (the overspending) and often end up with the consol loan and with additional debt on the old cards/overdraft etc. Plus as they are over a long period of time you can pay much more interest over time - particularly if you are using the likes of Ocean)

DarkConvict

If you were making payments and your account limit had been increased you were not therefore making late payments and as such no mark should be record, the fact you were misinformed also points to the creditor to remove the information.

Late payments have little affect on your creditor score, at least the odd one. If there blunder is causing you to get a worse mortgage you could well threaten to sue them for applicable damages, your rate vs. the one you could of got.

Page 19 onwards explains how to deal with this - http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/credit_explained_leaflet_2005.pdf

Leeds1984

Hi

Many thanks for both of your responses. I will certainly make efforts to find out the contacts of those higher up if a solution isn't offered - I am also pleased that you agree.

One thing I have realised in the past few weeks is that Argos charge £12 late payment fees for each late payment therefore I should have incurred fees of £72.

Am I correct in thinking that whilst they proceeded to put late payment marks on my credit profile, the fact that they charged no fees (as the limit was increased) shows the marks to my profile are unlawful? I should have at least incurred both penelties?

This is the line I will take next once Argos get back to me. If nothing is achieved then I will speak with the ombudsman about taking further action.

With regards to the debt consolodation - this is only my intention due to the currnet interest rates I am being Charged. In fact Halifax increased my interest rates almost doubeling my repayments. They said this was following the 'current climate' even though I had not spent for over a year on the card and had excellent crdit score up until the Argos fiasco. A loan would save £3000 interest and be payable over 4 years whereas now, it would be several £k and over approx 15 years.

Thanks again and ill keep you updated in the hope that it will help others in similar situations